


Rusty Insecurities

by Bri_Nara, True_Blue09



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Robot Feels, Robot angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-19 18:20:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9454208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bri_Nara/pseuds/Bri_Nara, https://archiveofourown.org/users/True_Blue09/pseuds/True_Blue09
Summary: Kiibo, while he's always been a robot, sometimes feels what he lacks. So of course he would feel left out when the others throw a pool party.





	

It was Angie’s idea to have a pool party, a bonding exercise that would help everyone get to know each other better. Most of them were thrilled and hurried off to get themselves ready. So, of course, no one heard Kiibo’s weak protests to the idea.

Shouts of excitement were let out from Iruma, who was completely into the idea. Toujou, who wasn’t that fond of getting herself wet, commented that it’d be nice to have some sun. Akamatsu and Gonta both conversed on swimming garments and how it would not be gentlemanly if Gonta were to swim naked.

It was settled. The pool party would start in about an hour. Kiibo looked around at his eager classmates and sighed to himself.

He wouldn’t comment on it. Let them have their fun.

It was pretty obvious that Kiibo was different than all of his classmates. He was not human. He was made of wires, electricity, and metal. Metal that was very heavy. Meaning that if he were to go inside the pool, he’d surely sink.

Kiibo admitted defeat and sulked back to his room. He shut the door behind him and bowed his head. Without much care, he fell back onto the bed with his eyes toward the ceiling.

He held out one of his hands before him.

Metallic and shiny. Just his normal hand.

Normal for  _ him  _ but not normal enough to go swimming with…

This was a recurring problem with himself. Worrying about how ‘normal’ he was compared to his peers around him. He didn’t have the melodic heartbeat of a human or the warm flesh of one.

All he had was a metal covering. One that made people shiver when they hugged him. One that made weird noises when people threw rocks at him.

He couldn't even cry like a human. Much less could he act one.

It made Kiibo cringe every time he remembered a joke that flew over his head. All the times he over reacted to a simple joke. It was just another casual reminder that he wasn’t normal.

He jolted up once he heard a knock at his door. He could hear a voice on the other side calling for him.

“Kiiiiiiboooo-kun!” It was Angie. “Come ooon! Everyone’s waiting!”

Her voice was sweet and kind, it somehow managed to draw Kiibo to the door. Reluctantly, he opened it up.

As usual, Angie was in her bathing suit. Always ready for a quick dip or a swim. “Let’s go! You don’t wanna miss the party, right?” she sang happily.

“A-ah. No, I don’t.” Kiibo responded calmly. Almost lacking in any emotion.

There was no hesitation at all. Angie quickly grasped Kiibo’s hand and pulled him away from his room. He was quick to shut the door behind him.

They both jogged their way to the pool. Kiibo felt the warmth from Angie’s hand, jealousy immediately followed. Why couldn’t he be the same as her?

When they finally arrived at the pool, everyone was already splashing each other and laughing with each other. Once she saw Angie, Tenko waved her over to join her with Yumeno.

“Have fun, Kiibo-kun!” Angie cheered as she skipped over to her little gaggle of friends.

Kiibo was left alone. Standing at a decent distance that was far enough from the pool to not get wet, but also close enough to get noticed by his classmates.

Suddenly, a beach ball bounced off the back of his head and landed softly onto the ground. He looked behind him quickly to see Iruma smiling widely at him as she walked in. Her arms were full of floaters and pool toys to make the experience much more fun!

Iruma walked up beside him and kicked the ball into the pool which bounced gracefully off the head of Shinguuji, who managed to find a waterproof mask for the occasion.

“Hey! Didn’t think you’d make it!” Iruma laughed heartily. She handed out some pool noodles to Tenko and Yumeno before they rushed over the the pool. Making a big splash as they both jumped in.

Kiibo flinched back when specks of water landed near his feet. Iruma seemed to notice this out of the corner of her eye.

“Now that I think of it… What  _ are  _ you doing here? It’d be…” Her eyes trailed up and down his body before she continued. Her eyes filled with something Kiibo couldn’t really identify. “It’d be a shame if your body were to get rusty.”

He looked away from her, his eyes falling on a part of the floor that was thankfully dry. “T-Thank you for the concern. I’ll keep that in mind.”

After Iruma dived into the pool, Kiibo sat down beneath one of the pool umbrella. The peace didn’t last long when he saw  a short and pale figure before him.

“Nishishi, aren’t you going to join? I wanted to see how long a robot can hold his breath underwater.”

Kiibo knew that laugh. He only knew one person who laughed like that.

The Super High School Level Supreme Leader. Kokichi Ouma. Honestly, Kiibo could tolerate vending machines more than he could Ouma.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea!” Kiibo exclaimed seriously. “There’s no telling how much damage that would do to me!” He wasn’t really up for the sly remarks today.

Ouma’s expression fell from the smug smile to an indifferent sneer. “Huuuh? You’re not even waterproof? Lame…”

“My professor created me with all of the essentials of being a normal human being!” Kiibo shot back.

“So being able to stand in the rain or shower wasn’t essential then?” he replied with a grin. “No wonder you smell like gasoline!”

“I’ve informed you multiple times! I do not run off of gasoline. Instead, I am powered by electricity,” he corrected firmly. Why was he so insistent on that misinformation?

Kiibo saw a mischievous glint in Ouma’s eye before the boy turned his back to him. His arms went up behind his head.

“Ohh, right, right. Maybe it is best you don’t join us, then. We wouldn’t want you killing all us humans.”

“I-I..I wouldn’t…” Kiibo’s cut himself off. Ouma had walked away from him before he could even finish. Honestly, he couldn’t argue it. He took a small step back, towards the door. “You’re right…” Kiibo admitted. “I wouldn’t want to end the life of a human... After all, a human cannot be replaced…” He sighed.

Kiibo turned around and made his way out the door. He just wanted to make it back to his room. All he wanted was peace and quiet. He needed to get away from his peers… No, the humans.

“Heey! Wait up!” Ouma called from behind him. Kiibo could hear the sound of bare feet running up behind him. Why couldn’t he just leave him alone?

It didn’t take long before Ouma caught up with Kiibo. He didn’t turn to face him.

“You’re leaving already? I would’ve expected a robot to be more thick-skinned. After all, it’s not like you’re  _ really  _ feeling.” After a pause, he tilted his head. “Does the stuff on your face even count as skin?”

Kiibo reached up and lightly touched his cheek. Feeling the synthetic skin that covered his inner workings. He reached down and put two fingers right underneath his head and pressed up against it. No pulse, no heart.

“Hey, if you’re leaving anyways, can you get us some drinks? I’m pretty sure you can carry them all since you don’t need any for yourself.”

His breath started to get shallower. This shouldn’t be happening… It wasn’t like he really needed…

“Heeeey!” Ouma chirped. Kiibo felt his small hand knock against his back. “Can you hear me? Are your ears working? Are you broken or something?”

All Ouma heard back from Kiibo was a small whimper. He walked in front of Kiibo and faced him. Tears were gushing from his eyes fast. They dripped down Kiibo’s face and onto the floor. His breathing started to become rapid.

“H-huh..?” Kiibo hiccuped softly. He looked down at his feet to see a small puddle of tears. He reached up to his cheek and pulled his hand back. It was wet.

Ouma’s eyebrows went up. His face was almost blank. “Huh. So you  _ can  _ cry.”

Kiibo’s body started to shake and his face started to flush. Quickly, he wiped away his tears but more still followed.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. He wasn’t supposed to be able to… Why was he crying?

He wanted to speak up. He wanted to say something. But his throat wasn’t working. His body wasn’t cooperating with him. He was trembling.

Why was this happening? Was this what others felt when they cried?

Was this what humans felt like when they cried?

It felt awful.

It felt like everything that was bugging at him came up at once and attacked.

For once, Kiibo broke down and not in a mechanical way.

His small quiet whimpers were turning into great sobs. He remembers when kids refused to play with him because he ‘looked weird’.

He remembers a time where people would stick magnets on his back without him noticing.

Kiibo remembers a time where he shattered a mirror into hundreds of pieces, no longer wanting to look at monster it showed.

Why couldn’t he just be a human? A normal everyday human being that lived a normal life.

“You cry like everyone else does...” Ouma said quietly. He averted his eyes and started walking away.

At least, Kiibo  _ thought  _ he was walking away until he felt a hand grab his wrist and start dragging him along.

“Where are you taking me?” Kiibo demanded to know.

“Back to the pool, obviously.” Ouma didn’t look back to him.

Kiibo’s mind went blank, which was rare. He could only think up of one question.

“Why?” Kiibo asked. “Didn’t you say that it would be best if I didn’t join you?”

“That was a lie!” Ouma said cheerfully. He looked back at Kiibo and smiled. “I thought you would have realized by now that I’m a liar!”

“Absolutely not! I take everyone very seriously!” Kiibo exclaimed. “When you were saying how you didn’t want me killing anyone-”

“All lies~!”

In a way, Kiibo was mad at the fact Ouma lied to him. But in another way, he was glad he was lying. He wiped his tears again as the two reached the pool again. He never really realized how  _ hard  _ it was to stop crying.

“Kiibo-kun?!” Saihara shouted. It managed to grab everyone’s attention and suddenly the room’s focus was on the two of them.

“Holy shit! I didn’t know you could cry!” Iruma laughed as she floated aimlessly in the pool.

“W-well..I didn’t...” Kiibo stuttered.

“Sounds like someone needs to be cheered up!” Angie said as she climbed out of the pool. “Have a hug, Kiibo-kun!”

She ran towards Kiibo with open arms and a sopping wet body. Ouma stepped between the two of them, intercepting the hug.

“Angie-chan,” Ouma said calmly. “Is that really a good idea when you’re all wet?”

Angie took a step back after realizing her error. She quickly went off to find a towel.

Soon, the whole class surrounded Kiibo. Asking him if he was alright or if he needed anything. It felt nice to be comforted. He felt involved. He felt like he was just a normal high school student with his friends. Once again, they were his peers rather than “the humans.”

Ouma had slipped away from the group. His work here was done.


End file.
